Businesses Tap Into ‘Plastic-Free Hailsham’ Scheme

Local businesses and community groups have joined the Town Council and taken the next step towards helping Hailsham become ‘plastic-free’.

The ‘Refill-a-bottle’ Hailsham scheme is on a mission to make refilling water bottles as easy, low cost and convenient as possible, by introducing refill stations in the town centre and other parts of the town.

Hailsham town councillors agreed a meeting held in July to lend its support to the plastic-free Hailsham initiative, which is committed to the removal or replacement of single-use plastics in the local community.

The Town Council is aiming to become a ‘single-use’ plastic-free council and staff at the Council offices in Market Street will gradually be phasing out the use of unrecyclable single-use plastic products at all Council-supported activities and premises.

The Town Council has already  been successful in helping to implement ‘refill-a-bottle’ water schemes in Hailsham, which involve the public getting their water container filled in dedicated premises which have signed up to the scheme, encouraging to people to cut down on using plastic items such as drink bottles, chilled water dispensers, cups, cutlery and straws.

Businesses and organisations which registered with the scheme to date include:

• Bebble’s Langos (George Street)
• Bucklers (St Mary’s Walk)
• Callenders Restaurant (High Street)
• Costa Coffee (High Street)
• Crane & Co Estate Agents (High Street)
• Dippy Doodahs (High Street)
• Frame Works (High Street)
• Hailsham Jewellers (High Street)
• Hot-Dogs Grooming (George Street)
• Portman Smile Clinic (High Street)
• Ribs & Co (George Street)
• Tatty Matts (Lansdowne Crescent)
• The George Hotel – Wetherspoons (George Street)
• The White Hart (Horsebridge)
• Wealden District Council Offices (Vicarage Lane)
• Starbucks (Boship Roundabout)
• Gregg’s (Boship Roundabout)
• The Little Bake Shop (Herstmonceux)

Subsequently and by natural progression, other community initiatives will follow, including the promotion of alternatives to plastic and encouragement towards biodegradable and paper options, as well as holding events to raise awareness and recruit volunteers to take the campaign forward.

Local campaigner and town councillor Mary Laxton, who is the Council liaison/representative for the scheme said: “The refill scheme recently launched by the Town Council and project partners encourages participating businesses to sign up to the free corresponding app and place a sticker in their window alerting passers-by to the fact they’re welcome to fill up their bottle for free.”

“This is just the start of the Town Council’s campaign to help the local community cut down on single-use plastic and reduce the amount of plastic waste in our town.”

Councillor Laxton added: “By pledging our support for Hailsham becoming a plastic-free town, the Town Council plans to lead by example by removing or replacing single-use plastic on our premises and help to promote the campaign and supporting events.”

“Single-use plastic items are not only a blight on our community but have a detrimental effect on wildlife and can take hundreds of years to break down. By working with residents, business and local community organisations on the Plastic-Free Hailsham campaign, we will endeavour to reduce the over-reliance on plastics which is causing so much damage to our environment.”

Councillor Laxton currently organises three community-led litter picks a year in Hailsham, and in March this year, volunteers removed 3 shopping trolley’s worth of single-use plastic bottles from a stretch of the Cuckoo Trail.